The dedication service in St George’s was
written and celebrated by the Reverend Canon Michael Bands, OD, Bishops Chaplain from 1985-1992. The touring
party filled the Chapel with their presence and lifted the rafters with a
rousing rendition of Psalm 150. The dedication of the plaque, the central
purpose of the service was moving and poignant. We were particularly grateful
for the very warm welcome we received from the Reverend Gillian Trinder, the
Chaplain of St George’s who spoke of the history of the Chapel and explained
the many icons and references all around us.
St George’s is literally crammed with
memorials and plaques. If you have the chance of visiting, the Bishops plaque is on the front of the
righthand side far pew as you enter the chapel.
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| The Menin Gate Memorial (picture by Allan Gasson) |
The Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing, designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield, is a
war memorial in Ypres dedicated to 55,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers who
were killed in the Ypres Salient of World War I and whose graves are unknown. The wreath laying ceremony – an event
which has taken place every night (save for four years during WW2) at 8pm since
it started in 1928 – was a very poignant and solemn affair.
Before the ceremony, we had the opportunity to explore the memorial before heading down for the wreath laying.
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| Rosemarie Saunders and Nick Winearls |
Buglers of the Ypres Fire Brigade play the Last Post and Reveille which starts and ends the ceremony. Guy Pearson, Mike Bosman (for Bishops) and Nicky Bicket
(F, 1973, ODU Secretary, UK) (for the ODU) laid the wreath in front of a crowd of about 300. Guy was asked to say the Kohima: When you go home, tell them of us and say | For their tomorrow, we gave our today
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| (l) Nicky Bicket, Guy Pearson and Mike Bosman; (m) the Buglers of the Ypres Fire Brigade and Guy Pearson saying the Kohima |
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| The laying of the wreath in memory of the 112 ODs who died in the Great War |
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| Five of the many many panels of names to the 55,000 soldiers whose graves are unknown |
After such solemnity we enjoyed a lively and boisterous supper in a restaurant on the Ypres square.
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| (l) Rupert Hill, Paul Murray and Peter Robinson; (m) David Walsh and Michael Groves; (r) Geoff Broadhurst and Zandy Bicket |
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| (l) Richie Ryall, Paul Duddle (our intrepid coach driver) and David Walsh; (m) Justin Michau; (r) William and Carlo Finlay. |
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| (l) Marie and Peter Syfret, Mark and Margie Charnock and Anne and Mike Taylor; (r) Rosemary Gasson and Anthony Gibson |
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Top: (l) Sabine Bosman, Mareé and Guy Pearson; (r) Allan Gasson and John Brimble
Bottom: (l) Michael and Sarah Groves; (r) Henry Stubbings and Fiona Gibson |
The next morning we stopped off at Hooge Crater Cemetery
Then onto Tyne Cot, the largest Commonwealth cemetery in the world for any war. It was designed by Sir Herbert Baker. It is on a massive scale, and overpoweringly depressing in terms of the slaughter of young men.
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| The letter written by Peter to his uncle Tristram who died of his wounds in 1916 |
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| Michael Groves inspecting the headstones at Tyne Cot |
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| Paul Murray (right) pointing out the inscription honouring Cyril Brooke (OD, left) son of Canon Richard Brooke, Principal of Bishops from 1886-1919. |
From there to Talbot House - Toc H - a place of refuge and respite for soldiers fighting on the Somme. In the heart of Poperinge, and now a museum, it provided a place for reflection, entertainment and, upstairs, holy communion in the quaint chapel situated up some very precarious steps. Outside Toc H is a very beautiful garden - all of which must have made the War seem very far away for those soldiers visiting the place.
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| The House and the chapel |
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| (l) Gill Stubbings and Mark Burgess; (m) Anthony Gibson and Allan Gasson; (r) Rupert Hill, Justin Michau and James Deane |
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| (l) the sign exhorting all visitors to regard themselves as equals; (m) waiting for the film on Toc H to start; (r) the chapel at the top of the house |
The Canadian War Memorial
The Canadian memorial, impressive and solitary is built on Vimy Ridge. The memorial was designed by W.S. Allward and marks the names of over 11,000 Canadians who died and who have no known grave.
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| (l) Margie and mark Charnock; Fiona Gibson and William and Carlo Finlay; Geoff Broadhurst, Paul Murray, Harold Winearls and Mark Burgess; (r) Louise Bands, Zandy Bicket and John Brimble |
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| Team photo at the base of the Canadian Memorial |
Alongside the memorial is the Canadian Park, pocked-marked with craters and strung out with trenches. Canadian volunteers staff the park and share enthusiastically the history and tragedy of Vimy Ridge.
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| (l) a young Canadian briefing the group; (m) David Wash briefing the group; (r) the group being briefed |
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| Listening to the briefing: Sarah Groves, Peter Syfret and William Finlay - and on the right, Michael Groves paying close attention |
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| (l) Susan Bicket and Nick Winearls exploring the trenches; (r) Henry Stubbings, Mareé Pearson, Mark Charnock and William and Carlo Finlay |
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| Marie Syfret and Graham Thomas raising their heads above the parapet. |
And then, in Arras, the last dinner of the tour. The restaurant, Assiette au Boeuf is, on its own, worth a visit to the region. Completely unfazed by the fact that no one could remember their pre-order, the staff and kitchen plied us with fabulous food and copious bottles of wine with charm and humour. This wasn't the end of the tour, but it was an evening to remember.
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| Nicky Bicket taking on the responsibility of motivating the staff. Linguistically a bit challenging, but we soon understood each other |
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| (l) Peter Robinson, Rosemary Gasson, Richie Ryall, Susan Bicket, James Deane, Nicky Bicket and Mark Charnock; (m) Mareé Pearson and Nick Winearls; (r) Allan Gasson putting the finishing touches to Nicky Bicket's staff briefing |
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Top: Nicky Bicket, Susan Bicket, John Brimble, Henry and Gill Stubbings, Paul Murray, Marie Syfret, Rupert Hill, Peter Robinson, Mike and Sabine Bosman, Anthony Gibson, Zandy Bicket and Fiona Gibson
Bottom: Choppy Bands, Mark Charnock, Louise Bands, Michael Groves, Anne Taylor, Sarah Groves, Mike Taylor, Michael Bands, Mark Burgess |
Delville Wood
This memorial, the physical and spiritual home to the South African dead, was designed by Sir Herbert Baker.
Delville Wood was the South African battle and of the 3,150 South Africans that went into battle, 2,500 died. In extraordinarily fierce fighting, there were at times 7 shells falling per second.
In establishing the memorial, oak tress were imported from Franschoek where they now provide an air of peace and greenness making it almost impossible to visualise the horror of the combat.
5 ODs died at Delville Wood.
An interesting and connected fact is that one of the survivors of Delville Wood was a young man called Hubert Kidd who joined Bishops after the War and became the School's Principal in 1943 and remained so until his death in 1963. Kidd was a member of a raiding party to hold a certain section of the wood at all costs which they did with great loss of men, ending up with less than ten survivors
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Top: Michael Bands in full flight
Bottom: the oak trees from Franschoek forming two double rows flanking the approach to the memorial |
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| Delville Wood |
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In the left picture, David Walsh giving the briefing under the sole surviving tree - a hornbeam - of the Delville Wood battle
On the right, the Bands' family |
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| (l) Zandy Bicket with Peter Robinson |
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| The team photo |
Thiepval
Our last memorial of the tour was Thiepval. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, the Thiepval Memorial, with its stark and imposing and almost (deliberately) ugly presence, commemorates the 72,000 British and South African soldiers who died in the Battle of the Somme who have no known grave. Last year, Graham Thomas, John Wyatt (W, 1963), David Walsh and I laid a wreath to commemorate the centenary of the nine ODs killed in the Somme and named on the memorial.
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| (l) Mike Taylor; (r) Mike Bosman, Marie Syfret and Graham Thomas. |
Our last stop before heading back to London was the Lochnager Crater. The Lochnagar mine was an underground
explosive charge, secretly planted by the British during the First World War,
ready for 1 July 1916, the first day on the Somme. The charge at
Lochnagar was one of 19 mines that were placed beneath the German lines on the
British section of the Somme front, to assist the infantry advance at the start
of the battle. The Lochnagar mine was sprung at 7:28 a.m. on 1 July 1916 and
left a crater 98 ft (30 m) deep and 330 ft (100 m) wide.
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| The Lochnager Crater |
Just before we left, Zandy Bicket made a short speech thanking David Walsh for the incredible contribution he made to the tour and the energy and insights he had given to the three days. David added so much insight and history – and compassion – with anecdotes, readings and observations, some involving ODs who served and fell in the Great War and drawn from a wider source. On behalf of the ODU, Zandy presented David with a specially-engraved set of whisky tumblers and a tour booklet inscribed by each one of the touring party.
Guy Pearson thanked the ODs for their support for the tour which marked an important nexus between the School and the ODU.
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| Guy Pearson and Zandy Bicket making the closing speeches. |
One of the features of the trip was the
bonding of ODs across generations which was prompted one member of the party to
write “… what I enjoyed the most was the amazing camaraderie amongst everyone.
Especially across the different generations. Loved it.”
And another, “What a fabulous trip. It was really wonderful – the content superb
and very poignant, and excellent company.
It was such fun to engage with a group of ODs across different
generations. New friendships made, old
ones renewed – brought together by a common bond of this great school we were
lucky enough to attend.”
In the coach on the way home, we watched the 1988
television production of Journey’s End (originally a play by R.C. Sheriff) which seemed a fitting way to end the tour.
Remembering and honouring one's dead, especially those that gave their lives that we may live with peace (well that was the intention) is important because it recognises the values, principles and courage which Bishops instilled in those 800 ODs who went to fight in the Great War motivated by a sense of moral duty. War, always, is abhorrent, but surely the idea that Bishops boys at a time when faith and patriotism were paramount who did not question the "call to serve" can translate into a more contemporary sense of service that transcends personal gain and selfish objectives in pursuit of a higher purpose.
They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn;
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
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